Sensory Overload
by Matthew Rossi 
Nov 15th 2008 at 4:00PM
As you can see, however, they realized some of us would be hard sells, so they let me dual wield two hand weapons from the back of a flying carpet. Blizzard, how do you know me better than I do? I didn't even know I wanted to do that!
The sound and visuals of Northrend are even better than I remembered them being from the beta, frankly. Howling Fjord's music is haunting and elegiac, while the landscape is lush but often shrouded in mist or shadow before bursting into dazzling brightness. Borean Tundra looks as if it has been shattered by the ice, while the music varies from strident to rhythmic. And none of this touches upon the sounds used to bring the various new mobs to life, from the grunting war cries of the Vrykul to the angry bleat of a Shoveltusk stag bearing down on you.
There was a moment yesterday when I actually just stood and gaped as my wife tamed a wolf that turned into a Worgen while we were fighting it. The elaborate armor pieces on the worgen model, especially considering the old worgen mobs I'm used to, were just a little touch that helped make the whole thing tie together. Like the torches swinging from the dragon-head lamps, or the standing stones on the Borean hills, or the truly chilling sight of the Temple City of En'kilah with its throngs of undead. You get to see and hear the impact of the Scourge, right up to seeing a field of twitching, pulsating bales of hay seething with the very plague that most likely plagued our cities during the recent Zombie Invasion. If you even tyold me I was going to see undead hay in Northrend, I would not have believed you.
How about you? How are you finding Northrend so far, an improvement over Outland or a step back?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Expansions, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bizounce Nov 15th 2008 4:06PM
Despite being sick, and the long queues I've experienced, the experience in actual game play has been awesome. Will definitely keep me going until SF4 comes out (not that I'm leaving....entirely.)
Jack Spicer Nov 15th 2008 4:36PM
You heard it here, folks. Chun-Li's thighs will be the death of WoW.
Amnion Nov 15th 2008 4:22PM
I think its amazing
Huge vistas and even more new ideas
Well done Blizzard, surpassed all expectations
Andruism Nov 15th 2008 4:13PM
Still in outlands. I rolled death knight like a fool. But, as I saw it, the feel of northrend tends to weigh more towards the gritty, physical realm, and since both my main 70's were casters (elemental shaman and arcane priest) I just wanted a melee to do Northrend with. I had tried to level my warrior a month or two ago but real life events tore that idea apart. So, here I am in hellfire penninsula, cursing the other Death Knights for rolling such a cliche class, and ignoring the hypocracy therein.
Edit: It seems I wrote that I have an arcane priest. This is not a typo, I'm just so good that I transcend your feeble grasp on 'classes' and made my own.
Sarius Nov 15th 2008 8:00PM
"Maybe Mr. T liked the game, and created a Mohawk Class. Maybe, Mr. T is pretty handy with computers, had that occurred to you Mr. condescending Director?"
Hey if Mr. T can make a Mohawk class I'm sure you can hack an arcane priest. I pitty the foo who can't do this!
Kor Nov 15th 2008 4:32PM
I am having fun not playing as much as I want to seeing as only a few weeks left in the semester and all of those annoying projects and exams are closing in. I am happy though that my mining is at 400 now and I possess roughly 4 stacks of cobalt bars. Nonetheless there has been a lot of ganking .....a lot...so leveling has been hindered slightly. (My server is 1 Alliance to 4 Horde.)
Cari Nov 15th 2008 4:44PM
I am really enjoying the new vistas and instances. Azjol'Nerub is so cool with all its spiderwebs, and I love the chilly Nexus. I'm sitting at work wishing I was home playing :-D
jesse Nov 15th 2008 4:42PM
i spent 2 hours walking around in dalaran. walking into tall the stores and checking everything out. the amount of detail blizz put into dalaran is just astonishing. by far the most impressive thing ive seen in wow to date
Saladen Nov 15th 2008 4:51PM
Maybe its just me, but my toon looks so much better in northrend than anywhere else..its just that subtle shading but it makes me wish they would do the same with the rest of the game as well.
mike cherniske Nov 15th 2008 5:00PM
It's been Awesome! I have to admit though, I agree with he title, as I have been a little overstimulated by the game to the point of Headache. Especially in the area just around Warsong Hold. It's crowded, chaotic, confusing, and almost too much to process. I've found Howling Fjord to be a great break for that, as it's much more mellow and laid back. Perhaps the hardest thing has been the internal struggle between exploring and leveling. I actually had Fps lined up from both starting area to dalaran before I hit level 71. And when I did get back to questing, it's hard to stay in one place, as I keep wanting to run back and forth between the two starting areas! Oh, my aching head........
Kermittheorc Nov 15th 2008 5:09PM
I rode my mage across the southern coast and loved every inch of it. The Northern Lights looked fantastic. The sight of towering cliffs across a mist covered sea is tantalizing. Everything is wonderful so far. I think Blizz made the right choice by delaying flight in Northrend.
Bjara Nov 15th 2008 5:19PM
Northrend is beautiful, what I've seen of it--Especially Howling Fjord. It's like I can smell the pine forests! (And probably the vry'kul, too.) The music is also really, really engrossing. I've found myself stopping whatever I was doing just to listen to the music and pick out the repeating themes.
Jen Nov 15th 2008 5:42PM
I'm envious of all of you. My computer if finally too old to play the game with all the new stuff! I can't wait to get a new one and find out just what you guys are talking about!
Steve Nov 15th 2008 5:43PM
All I've really explored thus far is the Howling Fjord (with a little of dragonblight), and I noticed something I'd never seen before. I was doing a quest to obtain island meat (I can't remember the exact name), and noticed a significant number of the beasts dead. I figured that it was just another player doing the same quest, and then I noticed that the worg (worgs?) were attacking the beasts! Maybe I'm just not observant, but I don't remember there being a food chain in other parts of WoW (I know you see random battles, but this one seemed to make a lot of sense--something you'd see in real life).
Very cool, very beautiful.
kozom Nov 15th 2008 6:02PM
used to happen, but not to the degree in northrend, bears would kill bunnies etc, but now you will see it alot, in grizzly hills the worgs eat the deer
Graham Nov 15th 2008 11:29PM
Also the Shoveltusk Bulls fight over the females in the Fjord. Very cool. I love Northrend so far.
Thistlebee Nov 15th 2008 5:47PM
Just taking the boat ride to Howling Fjord and looking up seeing a boat above me with the rolling fire graphic.
Wow, Blizzard really did a great job with the expansion. I ran around on my mount just to check out all the scenario before I started questing.
Brumfondl Nov 16th 2008 8:08PM
I first went to Borean Tundra and the boat ride there is the same as any. Later I went to Howling Fjord and just loved the ride in through the narrow channel and cave but that burning boat just blew me away. I have to say that with everything I have seen in Northrend that is still the most stunning sight. My flatmates were still asleep so I had no-one to go 'OMG just look at this!' but I so wanted to.
Brumfondl
Balius Nov 15th 2008 6:51PM
Howling Fjord's music is generally exceptional...but there's one little string of notes that sounds exactly like the Folger's coffee ads. The music goes through, loops, and every single time I find myself thinking of that little jingle.
The Best Part Of Waking Up
Otherwise, I'm very impressed. Reusing the old-world animals really gives a sense of consistency, while everything still looks new and refreshing. Everything from item models to enemy models to special effects just makes me want to keep playing...in fact, so excited have I been about the new stuff, I find myself just wandering around checking out all the nooks and crannies instead of questing or grinding mobs.
Ozain Nov 15th 2008 6:56PM
Northrend surpassed all my expectations. Everything looks fantastic, and Howling Fjord is simply beautiful in places.
I found myself gaping as I came in on the ship from Menethil, and as I climbed up the cliffs, and stood watching the Northern Lights with Utgarde towering above me, I felt a real sense of tranquility... which was soon shattered by the ram which charged me. But either way, the attention to detail is really good.
The world seems far more alive than it used to as well.